Clouds! Incredible Weather

"April showers bring May flowers!" This is a fairly realistic saying here in the States. During the first part of spring it rains and storms quite frequently which helps to bring all the pretty flowers to life. Rain and storms go hand in hand with clouds. What are clouds? Clouds are made of tiny (smaller than you can see) water droplets. When they all come together they make a cloud. When these clouds become big they get heavy. The water begins to fall out of the cloud and that is what we call rain! Clouds don't always make rain, though. Sometimes they are just fun to look at! They can make all kinds of shapes.

CIRCLE TIME:
Talk about clouds! Ask some questions to see what they know and think about clouds.
1. Do you think you could walk on clouds?
2. How do you think they get there?
3. Are there different kinds of clouds?
4. What colors of clouds have you seen?

Talk about their answers. For a fun display, draw a large fluffy cloud on paper that you can put up on the wall in your Circle Time area. Write some of their answers on the cloud. Also print out some different pictures of clouds and post them on the cloud you drew.

You can visit the NOAA http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pa/forkids.php wesite for some interesting pictures and coloring pages.



LETTER: U u for Umbrella

When it rains we will use an Umbrella to keep us dry.
U for Umbrella coloring page



READING:

We will begin our phonetic reading this week! I feel that the easiest and most efficient way for preschool kids to begin the reading process is to sound out the letters that make up words. We have been working all year on the sounds letters make, singing the ABC song, coloring worksheets, and so forth. Now it is time to use all that knowledge to try to read some small words.

It is helpful to spend around 5-10 minutes per day on reading. Yup! That's all you need. Too much and they will lose interest. So it is important to integrate a reading activity into each day and only for a few minutes.

Begin this week with "A". It is a word, after all. Find some sentences in their favorite books which have "a" in them. Read the sentences aloud and pause at the "a". Ask them "What word is that?" Each time you get to an "a" in the story, pause and let them "read" it themselves! Great start that will make them feel very proud.

There are a couple of FREE websites that I will refer you to for all our reading lessons. Generally I will provide 1 or 2 reading activities each week and then supplement with these great activities on the sites.

On starfall.com we will use the reading games. BEGIN HERE! This week we will work on "an" and "at".

On readingbear.org we will use their "sounding out" techniques. Begin this week with the "short a" sounds. BEGIN HERE

By incorporating the letter a into many different reading activities, it will help young children begin to understand the concept of reading.

STORY

Drippy The Raindrop

Read this story from First-School.com before doing the science activity! It will help to explain exactly what happens to water from the river to the cloud and back. (the story isn't complete, but it tells enough of it to work. there is an option to purchase the rest of the story if you wish)

http://www.drippytheraindrop.com/DrippysWorldTrialStories/ToMountainsAndBack/Entry.htm

SCIENCE:

Making our own Clouds

Materials Needed:

Cotton Balls

Flat pans or flat containers

Water

Put about a half inch of water in the pan(s). Give each child a cotton ball. Explain that this will act as their cloud. How does the cloud feel? Light and soft? Talk about how water will "evaporate" or become tiny droplets and will rise up into the sky. Ask them to place their cotton over the water. Can you see the water traveling up into their cotton? How does the cloud feel now? Heavy? As they lift the cotton ball up from the water some "rain" will begin to drip from the clouds. This is exactly how a cloud acts when it is full of water! The water comes back down as rain and ends up in lakes, streams and the ocean (represented by the pan of water). Once their cloud in empty of water, the process can begin again.

MATH

Cloud Number Toss

Print numbers 1 - 12 inside an egg carton. Have the kids toss a cotton ball (or craft poms) at the carton and say the number they land on out loud. Then count out that many cotton balls.

 

Umbrella Grid Game

Print out the umbrella grid from Prekinders.com. Make sure you have clear glass beads (like for fish tanks) and a numbered dice. You can make your own dice by purchasing a wooden block in whatever size you choose from a hobby store. Simply print the numbers on each side with a marker.

http://www.prekinders.com/gridgames/umbrella10.pdf

The kids will roll the dice one by one and place a bead on each umbrella for the number they rolled. This is great for number recognition, counting, and taking turns.

CLOUD ACTIVITY

Cloud Watching

Cloud Watching Window

 

Print the window on heavy cardstock. You will need craft popsicle sticks or paint stirrers as well. Cut the center of the paper out so that you can see through it. Glue or tape the stick to the bottom and backside of the paper so you can hold it up and look through it easily.

On a nice day with clouds in the sky, take the windows outside to use to look at the different kinds of clouds. It is not really important what each type of cloud is called, it is just fun to try to match up the clouds in the sky with the clouds on the window! You can also begin to find funny shapes that clouds can make. Maybe you can find a bunny, a flower, or even your Mom!

CRAFT

Fluffy Cloud

Materials Needed:

White Construction Paper

Several Colors of Blue Tissue Paper, cut in squares

Glue

Freehand a fluffy cloud onto the paper. Provide tissue paper squares and glue for the kids to use to make their cloud.

Cut them out and tape them to windows for a cool effect!

STORY

 

 

 

Sweet story about a little cloud who changes into all kinds of shapes before joining up with another cloud to make rain.

MUSIC

Black Clouds

Black clouds gather in the sky
Soon its going to storm
Lightning, thunder, run inside
And we'll be safe and warm!

COOKING

Cloud Cookies

Ingredients:

Graham Crackers

Vanilla Frosting

Mini Marshmallows

Allow the children to paint their crackers with some frosting and then stick marshmallows to them. Simple as that!